Maybe not as running mate, but Obama still needs Clinton

Jaime Castillo - My SA News - Aug. 3, 2008
The long slog known as the Democratic presidential nominating contest was all but over.

Hillary Clinton had just conceded the floor, and the 2008 nomination, to Barack Obama.

Yet state Sen. Leticia Van de Putte, a co-chairwoman of the upcoming Democratic National Convention in Denver, couldn't ignore the obvious.

“He's still got a lot of work to do with la gente,” said Van de Putte, using a common Spanish euphemism to refer to the Hispanic community.

That was several weeks ago.

Have those wounds, particularly the hurt feelings of older Latinas who saw their own struggle in Clinton's historic candidacy, had enough time to heal? Does it make a difference now that the buzz out of Washington, D.C., is Clinton almost assuredly won't be Obama's running mate?

“If you drive through my district, those Hillary signs aren't coming down yet,” said Van de Putte on Friday. “My hope is through the convention and shortly thereafter to make them (Hillary supporters) feel more comfortable.”

It is a unique position for the veteran lawmaker, who also backed Hillary's candidacy in the primary.

Here she is gearing up for the Democratic Party's ultimate national pep rally later this month and she's still concerned about the enthusiasm level in her predominantly Hispanic district, which covers pretty much all of western Bexar County.

It is a tougher problem for Obama as his race against Republican John McCain is tightening in some national polls. Older Latinos, particularly those of Mexican-American descent in the Southwest, tend to be solid Democratic voters, so any lack of zeal for Obama within any sector of the community could be problematic for his candidacy.

“I really believe they're going to vote for Senator Obama,” Van de Putte reasoned, “but I want them to have the level of engagement and excitement they would have had for a Hillary Clinton ticket.

“I think it will take a while,” she said.

Local political consultant JoAnn Ramon has built a career on cajoling area Democrats to vote straight-ticket in partisan elections. And she sees the same hurdles for Obama among “more experienced” Latinas in her South Side stomping grounds.

“The Latinas have been very adamant,” Ramon said. “If (Obama) doesn't take Hillary, they're going to skip that race on the ballot.”

The 64-year-old Ramon conceded that even a party loyalist like herself needed “a grieving period” to get past the end of Hillary's presidential candidacy.

“It's hard,” she said.

What Obama needs, Van de Putte and Ramon agreed, is for Clinton to vouch for him in person in heavily Hispanic areas. And it must go beyond the featured role that Clinton will be given at the national convention.

“You've got to believe it to sell it,” Ramon said. “Hillary is really going to have to say something, and she's really going to have to campaign for him.”

Van de Putte said it helps, but it's not enough, to simply acknowledge that Obama emphasizes the same priorities as the larger Hispanic community — education, health care and the economy.

To hear it from Hillary's lips, on the stump, could make all the difference in the world.

“It's like our attitude toward faith,” Van de Putte said. “We're never presumptive enough to bargain with God ourselves.

“We pray to saints and ask the virgen (Virgin Mary) to intercede on our behalf,” the senator said. “If Hillary does that on a political level for Obama, it could make a huge difference.”

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